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Biotech / Medical : UK AND EUROPEAN BIOTECHS.
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To: UPAL who wrote (45)3/8/1997 8:03:00 AM
From: James Reynolds   of 64
 
UPAL,

Cantab has indeed been moving ahead - up over 50% since December.

I think there are several reasons for this rise:

1. The FDA's decision to allow Cantab's DISC (Disabled, Infective
Single Cycle) virus technology to be used in healthy volunteers.
Cantab, and a number of analysts, believe this technology has enormous long term potential in the treatment and prevention of viral infections and as a delivery vehicle for gene therapy.

Cantab's DISC technology uses genetically disabled viruses which reproduce only once, thereby stimulating the immune system but not causing infection. The FDA's decision to allow the technology to be used in humans removed a worry that Cantab might not be able to convince regulators that all the viruses in its vaccine had been disabled.

2. At the end of November Cantab demonstrated proof of principle in initial phase II trials of its genital warts vaccine "TA-GW" - none of the 15 people followed up after treatment had a recurrence of the warts. Smithkline Beecham has exclusive licensing rights to the vaccine and Cantab expect results shown so far to be enhanced when the product is formulated with Smithkline's proprietary syatems.

Smithkline payed an initial œ7 million in mid 96 for the rights to
TA-GW with a further œ17 million due as clinical milestones are acheived and royalties of 10-15% on eventual sales.

3. The UK biotech sector has been strong in early 1997, many companies share prices have risen sharply over recent months after a sell-off in
mid 96. This positive sentiment has helped Cantab to move higher.

4. I am not aware of any analyst notes, but I suspect there may have been one or more produced in recent months. There may even be speculation of further collaboration deals.

5. Cantab recently announced it had set up a joint venture, Phogen, with Marie Cure Cancer Care. Phogen will develop commercial applications for the VP22 herpes virus protein.

These are some of the possible reasons for the move up. There may well be others.

Hope this helps.

James


Hope this helps.

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